Council praised for autism action plans

Council's autism proposals could "help hundreds of parents"

A mum has hailed the council’s plans for specialist autism services in the region.

Lucie Dudgeon from Bridge Street, Lockerbie, said the proposals to be raised at the education committee tomorrow would raise awareness of the condition and “help hundreds of parents”.

She and husband Stuart are carers for three young children with learning difficulties.

Twelve-year-old Cameron has Asperger syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Finlay, 10, is missing part of chromosome 16 which can cause health problems; and eight-year-old Kara suffers from epilepsy and childhood autism.

Lucie said: “There’s definitely a lack of facilities in the region. If there was a place I could go with my children, something more readily available, that would be great. When my eldest, Cameron was diagnosed he was eight years old. I’m hearing of kids being diagnosed as young as two. More needs to be done but this is definitely the right step.”

Almost a quarter of pupils across the region are in need of extra help at school including 400 young people with varying degrees of autism. The figures are a base for the development of a business case to expand support for children and young people with autism.

Councillors will hear around two per cent of the region’s school population of 18,971 have some form of ASD. That is slightly higher than the Scottish average of 1.5 per cent.

And £315,000 has been set aside to develop the strategy that would be likely to include the establishment of a specialist education centre for up to ten young people with autism spectrum disorder or ASD and would include supported living accommodation.

The figures have been steadily rising over the last four years, from 201 in 2010 to 306 last year. On top of that 44 pre-school children have been identified by the education service as “causing considerable concern” about their social communication.

And there are 158 children and young people awaiting diagnosis.

Fifty two primary schools across the region have a total of 132 pupils with ASD and 33 of them spend the majority of their time in learning centres.

There are 174 in secondaries, the majority in mainstream education, with 25 spending a “significant” amount of time in learning centres.

A further seven are in independent residential facilities outside the region.

Members will be told “temporary exclusions” from schools is almost four times higher amongst pupils with ASD.

Just over 4,390 youngsters have some form of assisted support needs which can be for many different reasons. The vast majority are in full time in mainstream primary and secondary schools.

Ten primaries and seven secondaries have learning centres.

Lucie added: “Children with autism look just like every other child. If people see me and one of my children has a tantrum it’s not because they’re a spoiled brat.”

A project officer has been working to develop two non-residential support bases for the education and day time care of children and young people with moderate needs because of autism; a residential school for those with severe levels of need; and the management and identification of those youngster who will need the service.

Councillors will be asked to approve a business plan that will include staff training; looking at the role of principal teachers of learning centres in the transition of children from primary to secondary sectors; development of outreach centres; and continuing work on a specialist centre.